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Hawaii Schools: Improvement In College Prep
One of the largest school districts has made great strides in preparing more students for higher education. What is their secret?

Hawaii Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the country, is seeing improvements in the number of students who are college bound. The district attributes the positive numbers to various factors, including their ability to better track student progress in recent years. With more students showing readiness for higher education endeavors after high school, the state is confident it can boost the number of college graduates statewide within the next two decades. What is their secret? It appears a number of factors are contributing to the state’s success.

College and Career Readiness Indicators

The Honolulu Civil Beat reports that recent positive numbers from Hawaii Public Schools can be found in the latest College and Career Readiness Indicators report. The new reports were released by Hawaii P-20 Partnerships for Education and the Hawaii Department of Education. The reports use a range of metrics to evaluate college readiness for high school students in the state. According to the most recent numbers, it appears students in the Islands are making strides in nearly every indicator.

According to a press release from the Hawaii Department of Education, the recent report included the following findings:

  • College Enrollment – the state saw a slight increase in college enrollment, from 53 percent in 2011 to 54 percent in 2012
  • College-Level Courses – the number of students enrolling in college-level English and math courses increased by four percent each between 2011 and 2012
  • Remedial Courses – the number of students requiring
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Boston Schools: Change Fostered By Private Organizations

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Boston Schools: Change Fostered By Private Organizations
We examine the contributions Play Ball! and the Boston Scholar Athlete Program have made to athletics in Boston Public Schools.

It wasn’t that long ago that the state of athletics in Boston Public Schools was downright dismal. Teams did not have a fully equipped field to practice. Some were even left to run practice drills in alleyways because space was not available on school property. There were not enough uniforms to go around, leaving teammates swapping sweaty shirts with one another in the midst of competitions.

But when the sports weren’t available, even in this less than ideal state, high school and middle school students were left with too much empty time on their hands when school got out. Pay-to-play, an option seen in many of the wealthier suburban school districts nearby, simply didn’t cut it in a district where 75 percent of the student population lives below the poverty level. The quandary seemed to be growing deeper and deeper – until two Good Samaritan organizations stepped in.

This video reports on the Boston Scholar Athletes Academic Zone.

Boston Scholar Athletes Focus on Athletics, Academics

In 2009, Boston Globe reporter Bob Hohler did a series on the miserable state of affairs in Boston Public Schools athletic programs across the city. After visiting every school in the district, Hohler found that many of the problems within the system boiled down to a lack of money, according to a report at WBUR. After the reports were published, Boston Schools Superintendent Carol Johnson began

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State-Mandated Recess May be Coming to New Jersey Schools

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State-Mandated Recess May be Coming to New Jersey Schools
We look at current legislation New Jersey lawmakers are considering that would mandate recess time in all public schools. Do kids need outdoor playtime to learn better?

Recess has been a core component of the public education experience as long as most adults can remember. However, pressure from high-stakes testing and other concerns often make outdoor playtime a casualty in the quest to improve academic performance. Some school districts have limited the amount of outdoor time students get in a school day, while a few have eliminated the practice altogether. Now, a New Jersey lawmaker is on a whole new quest – to guarantee public school students in her state get the outdoor time they need to succeed.

About S-1501

The new bill that has been introduced to the New Jersey state senate is S-1501, according to NJ Spotlight. The bill, authorized by State Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) requires all public schools to provide at least 20 minutes of recess time daily to students in grades K-5. The measure recently passed unanimously in the Senate Education Committee and is now headed to the full Senate for consideration.

This bill is nothing new to Turner, who has been advocating for mandatory recess time in schools since 2009. Turner, who is also a college administrator, firmly believes that students perform better academically when they receive a “play break” during the school day. Nj.com reports that Turner has plenty of experts and research in her court, backing up the idea that daily breaks should be an integral part of the learning process.

This video offers a look at mandatory recess in

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Is LinkedIn a Valuable Network for High School Students?

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Is LinkedIn a Valuable Network for High School Students?
While Facebook is getting all the attention in teen social media, LinkedIn offers some serious benefits in networking and professional grooming. We look at how high school student can use this network to their advantage.

Many high school students document their school years on social networks like Facebook, where they fill pages with funny photos and funnier comments regarding their teen antics. However, some experts are now recommending that high school students take a more serious approach to their social networking, by hooking up with the professional network LinkedIn. Why should fun-loving high schoolers take a second look at a stuffed-shirt site like LinkedIn? It turns out there are many potential benefits from tuning into this established network at a younger age.

Job Searching Early

Even teens need to get a leg up on their job searches, whether they are on the hunt for a career right out of high school or a part-time job to help them pay the college bills. Globe and Mail recently reported that the days of the paper CV are out – now it’s all about selling yourself to prospective employers through digital mediums. Employers are now looking up applicants online, through social media, and even a personal website. Some employers even discount an applicant who restricts their resume or application to the paper variety, according to Jaigris Hodson, an instructor of digital literacy at Ryerson University.

This video offers a tutorial on LinkedIn for students.

“I advise my students to build an online portfolio that demonstrates the abilities they have to help employers solve their problems and portrays them as sources

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Foreign Language Study Abroad

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Foreign Language Study Abroad
We've put together this resource guide to help students, adults and professionals get the information they require to choose a good destination to study language abroad.

Studying language abroad is one of the best educational experiences you can have. There is no better way of learning a language than living in the country, being surrounded by native people daily, and using it daily. It works greatly towards achieving your language skills. You can meet new people and fellow international students, therefore, enhancing your experience as well as your professional network. If you are a foreign language major or want to make a career out of it, studying abroad is the best step you can take toward achieving it. It gives your resume the right amount of boost.

There are hundreds of destinations around the world that offer language study programs choosing from which can be an overwhelming task. So, we have listed some useful resources to help you find information related to language study abroad. We have divided the resources into three groups to help you find exactly what you are searching for.

General – Spanish Language Program – Italian Language Program

General

CIEE study abroad - This is a very useful website that offers great options for people who are interested in studying language abroad. This site provides a list of programs offered in several countries. It also offers a comprehensive idea about the local cultures and languages of several countries like Russia, Italy, Germany, China, and Spain.
SIT Study Abroad - This website offers summer and academic year language study programs in nearly 40 countries in Asia and the Pacific,

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